Words of Commitment
by iloveromance
Summary: Well into their marriage, Daphne accidentally finds Niles' handwritten words of proposal. Based on a scene from the episode "The Proposal".
1. Chapter 1

**Words of Commitment **

Daphne paused in the doorway, amazed at how a place she had lived in for so long could still astonish her.

When she first came to America, she never dreamed that she'd one day find herself married to a successful and handsome man, much less be living in an extravagant place like the Montana.

It was like a dream come true.

The enormous library in front of her was like something out of Walt Disney's _Beauty and the Beast_. Massive bookcases, easily ten feet tall were filled almost to capacity with books; each of them arranged by subject, color and size.

It would take her a lifetime to read them all but she had no doubt that Niles had flown through the pages of every book more than once.

The chime of the antique grandfather clock broke her concentration and she blinked; remembering why she'd come here.

Last night, she came downstairs to get David for his bath when she found him sitting in Niles' lap, smiling sleepily as his father read his favorite story _Goodnight Moon_. The sight made her cry with happiness and it took all the strength she had to interrupt the touching moment.

It was only after she'd tucked David into bed and kissed him goodnight that she realized that she'd forgotten his storybook in the library.

No doubt he'd want to hear it again tomorrow night.

Now, she feared that she'd never find it among the vast array of books but her worries were soon suppressed when she spotted the colorful storybook lying on the ottoman.

She opened the door to the adjoining office and paused mid-step when she noticed something peculiar. A stack of books sat haphazardly on Niles' desk, along with some papers that appeared to be important.

It wasn't like him to leave his work lying around. A disturbing thought filled her mind, but she quickly pushed it away. There had to be some explanation for this, but there was no sense in jumping to conclusions.

Taking a deep breath, she began tidying up his desk, fully aware of the risk she was taking. She'd gone through Niles' paperwork before-with disastrous results and almost lost him forever.

But now she worked diligently to straighten up the mess before he arrived home. Carefully she picked up a stack of books, annoyed when a folder slid out from underneath and fell to the floor; its contents scattered across the hardwood.

Feeling somewhat guilty, she bent down to pick up the papers, taking great care not to read what was written on the pages. Most of it was typed anyway; indicating documents of some sort that probably wouldn't interest her in the least.

Suddenly something caught her eye. Within the stack of pages were several sheets of paper, written in Niles' perfect penmanship.

Most likely it was a long, complicated letter to one of his patients. Niles told her that he often wrote letters to patients who had difficulty opening up to him face to face. She hurried to return the pages to their place, taking note that they had been folded and refolded many times over.

But as she did so, her eyes trailed to the first page as though taunting her to read the words. And that's when she saw her name, written in the greeting.

This was no letter to a patient.

This was a letter to her.


	2. Chapter 2

Her hands trembled as she read the words he'd written so carefully. From the very first paragraph, he spoke so highly of her that she was sure he'd mistakenly written her name in the salutation.

There was no possible way she was worthy of descriptions such as _angelic, goddess_ and _perfect. _

When she was sure that he couldn't possibly praise her any more, she came to the next page where even more words of love and admiration were written.

_Daphne, my love... _

_Before I met you, my life was filled with hopelessness and despair..._

_And then you came along; a stunningly beautiful angel with a heart of gold who made a simple task such as doing Frasier's laundry so mesmerizing. I simply couldn't take my eyes off of you._

_For I had just met the woman with whom I had already started to fall deeply in love._

_Since you have come into my life, I have found meaning within it. Things that never made sense before are suddenly clear. _

Tears filled her eyes when she read further down the page.

_All of this is because I found such a wonderful woman._

Daphne read on; the following pages blurred by her tears. He was comparing her to various roses; three of them.

Surely he didn't find her worthy of comparison to such a beautiful flower. But apparently he thought differently.

For he'd described each rose in detail that was so vivid, she could almost smell their sweet scent. And then he'd attributed aspects of one rose to each of her qualities; one represented her beauty. One represented her passion and finally one for her humor.

Still more words about how he would love her unconditionally for the rest of his life and throughout eternity.

And just when she thought he couldn't possibly compliment her any further, her eyes fell onto the last line on the last page;

_All of this comes from deep within my heart, perhaps as a prelude to the question I've wanted to ask since I first fell in love with you..._

_Daphne Moon will you do me the greatest honor I could ever imagine by becoming my wife?_


	3. Chapter 3

Her hand went to her trembling mouth and she sank to her knees, sobbing. Suddenly the she could hear Roz's voice in the distance.

"Daphne?"

The door to Niles' office opened and the voice became louder.

"Daphne, are you in here? The door was open and no one answered when I knocked, so I-"

Roz stopped suddenly and was in the room within seconds, kneeling beside her friend; her hand on Daphne's back.

"My God, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Daphne's fingers trembled as she shook her head and glanced at the pages in her hand.

"No..." She answered so softly that the word came out in a whisper.

"What's this?"

Roz gently took the pages from Daphne and her mouth fell open.

"Oh my God, where did you find these?"

Guilt flooded over Daphne and she swallowed hard. "B-by accident. I-I was straightening some things on his desk and the folder fell onto the floor! Papers went everywhere! I tried not to look; I swear it... but then I saw me name and I couldn't help meself."

It was then that Daphne saw the look of astonishment on Roz's face.

"What's wrong?"

Still starring at the pages, Roz shook her head. "I can't believe he kept these all this time."

"Wait... you knew about this?"

"Well, yeah! I thought everybody knew!"

"But how could you possibly-."

"Oh, Frasier told me."

"Frasier? But-."

Roz sighed. "It's no big deal. He swore me to secrecy. But I walked into Café Nervosa one day and Niles was sitting at his favorite table, flipping through a stack of papers and sobbing his eyes out."

Daphne was astonished. "He was _crying_?"

"Like a baby. I couldn't believe it! I asked him what was wrong and he showed me the papers. I knew right away that it was his proposal speech."

"But why didn't he ever-."

Roz shrugged. "Beats me. Who knows why Niles does half of what he does!"

Ignoring the hurtful comment about her husband, Daphne took the pages from Roz and poured over the words once more.

"But there are so many words. How could he possibly-."

"I told him that it was too long but he was so insistent on using that line about being _hopeless_ and _despairing_ and comparing you to three different roses."

"You read this?"

"Well yeah! I mean he practically insisted!"

Just then David's cries could be heard from upstairs, but Daphne barely noticed.

"I'll go up and check on him." Roz said.

Oblivious to Roz's exit, Daphne glanced at the papers in her hand and began to sob once more.

She never imagined it was possible to fall even deeper in love, but Niles' beautiful words had just proven her wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

When Roz was gone, Daphne returned her attention to Niles' letter, unable to stop reading the beautiful words that he'd written. Page after page filled with praise and love for her.

And once more she found it impossible to believe that anyone could think so highly of her. She knew Niles loved her and had loved her for a long time but this was far beyond anything she could ever have imagined.

He spoke of how he'd fallen in love with her mere seconds after meeting her and how that love grew into something even he couldn't fathom.

Once more tears filled her eyes and she felt as though she was reading the letter for the very first time.

As she read she could almost hear him speaking directly to her; pouring his heart out much like he had done on that fateful night at the Wayside Inn... mere hours before she'd almost made the biggest mistake of her life.

Still staring at the pages, Daphne walked into the living room and settled herself onto the fainting couch.

Seconds later she heard the door unlocking and she looked up to find her husband smiling at her.

In one fluid motion she rose and went to him; the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Niles tossed his keys aside and took off his jacket, draping it over the nearest chair.

"Hello, my love. I'm sorry I'm so late. I had a breakthrough with a patient and-"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

He blinked in surprise.

"W-what?"

"Yes, Niles Crane. I'll marry you. In fact, I'd marry you every day for the rest of my life."

He grinned and blushed, looking just like a little boy.

"Daphne..."

"Yes?"

Niles laughed and kissed her once more.

"I'll never tire of hearing those words, but in case you've forgotten, we're already married."

"I-I know... and I'm happier than I ever dreamed."

Before he could respond, she kissed him even deeper; drawing back only to catch her breath.

"I'm happy too, my angel; and as ecstatic as I am to come home to such a marvelous display of affection-."

"I love you, Niles... I love you so much."

As she cried in his arms, he held her close.

"I love you too. But is something wrong, Daphne?"

"I-I'm sorry. I-I just can't believe..."

"What?"

"Did you really mean those beautiful words that you wrote?"

His eyebrows rose in confusion. "What I-."

"In your letter." She finished.

"My-."

She handed him the sheets of paper, somewhat nervous about his impending reply.

He flipped through the pages, staring at them in bewilderment. "Daphne... Where did you find these?"

"I-In your office. L-Look, I know I wasn't supposed to be in there but I was looking for David's storybook in the library and I noticed the scattered papers on your desk. I was only trying to straighten them up and-and they fell onto the floor. I'm so sorry, Niles. I didn't mean to be so nosy. I-I just saw me name and-."

"It's all right." He said drawing her close to stroke her hair. "Shh... Please don't cry. I'm glad you found them."


	5. Chapter 5

She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"You are?"

He stared at the pages and smiled. "Actually now I'm sorry that I didn't use this proposal instead."

Daphne smiled and touched his cheek. "No, Niles... Your proposal was beautiful. Those beautiful words you said to me that night. And when I think about all that trouble you went to for me, hiring the choir and Wolfgang Puck and the doves. And what did I do? I went and ruined your plans by being sick!"

"Daphne, no... Please don't ever blame yourself. You deserved it all. I just got carried away. Not unlike this letter."

"So you're saying-."

"I meant every word from the depths of my heart, my love. And now I could add a hundred more pages declaring my love for you."

Her lip began to tremble. "Oh Niles... I love you so much."

"And I love you too, Daphne."

He kissed her deeply, his hands caressing her neck, her shoulders, her back... and at that moment she knew that there was no possible way that she could ever love him more.

"I finally got David back to sleep and... whoa... looks like I'm interrupting something."

They looked up to see Roz smiling awkwardly.

"Sorry." Niles said, quickly pulling out of Daphne's arms.

"It's all right." Daphne said. "I'm not embarrassed at all to kiss me husband in front of anyone."

Before Niles could reply, Daphne kissed him once more.

"I'll be right back." Roz said.

"Roz, wait..."

But Roz had already disappeared from the room.

Daphne and Niles locked eyes as a strange nervousness came over her.

"I guess we both got a bit carried away, didn't we?"

"Well..."

"Okay, I'll have him back tomorrow afternoon. Alice is going to love having him over to play with."

"Roz, what are you talking about?"

Daphne and Niles turned to find Roz holding David in her arms and his diaper bag on her shoulder.

"What's going on?"

"Well, I can tell that you two want to be alone, so I thought I'd take David home with me for the night."

"Roz, that's very sweet of you but you don't have to. Niles and I-."

"Daphne, I know that look. Believe me... I've given it to hundreds of men... I doubt you two will be getting much sleep tonight, if you know what I mean."

Daphne blushed deeply, afraid to look at her husband.

"All right, Roz. Just let me kiss my handsome son goodbye."

Roz smiled as Daphne took David from her arms and held him close. "You be a good boy for your Aunt Roz and have fun playing with Cousin Alice. Oh I love you, my sweet angel."

Reluctantly she handed David back to Roz, smiling when Niles kissed his son's forehead.

"Goodnight, Buddy."

"All right. I guess we're ready." Roz said. "And don't worry. Alice and I will take good care of him."

"Thank you, Roz." Daphne said, hugging her friend. "I'll call you in the morning."

"Take your time." Roz said with a wink. "Have a nice night."

She closed the door behind her, leaving Niles and Daphne alone once more.

Minutes later they sat in the very spot where he'd first proposed; a blanket wrapped around them as they shared the comfortable plush chair.

Daphne smiled at Niles, feeling like a school girl. "So...what shall we do now?"

Niles grinned mischievously. "Well, I was thinking... Since I didn't get a chance to use the proposal to let you know how much I love you..."

Daphne swallowed hard, wondering why she was suddenly nervous. "Yes?"

He took her hand and kissed it, his lips lingering on her soft skin.

"Perhaps it's best if I take you upstairs so I can show you..."

Wordlessly Daphne kissed him deeper than she'd ever kissed him before, drawing back seconds later a bit dizzy.

"I take that as a 'yes?'" Niles said.

Daphne grinned. "On one condition..."

Niles smile faded. "Oh... of course. But what could you possibly-."

She laced his fingers through his and led him up the stairs, pausing at the doorway to kiss him once more.

"Read me that beautiful letter?"

"With pleasure." Niles said; eager to share a night with Daphne that neither of them would soon forget.

**THE END**


End file.
